Chapter 5 - THE MAN STELLAN TRUSTED
Elias Ward had protected Stellan for twelve years.
He had taken a bullet for him in Milwaukee. He had carried Stellan’s father out of a burning car. He was godfather to half the children born inside the Cross organization.
And his access code had opened my apartment.
“I didn’t go there,” Elias said.
Stellan’s voice was quiet. “Then someone copied your credentials.”
“Only two people can issue duplicate codes.”
“Who?”
“Me. And Victor.”
Victor Cross was Stellan’s uncle.
The man who had tried to kill him after the gala.
I stared. “I thought he was dead.”
“So did most people,” Stellan said.
That answer terrified me more than if he had said Victor was alive.
Stellan dismissed everyone except Elias.
“You told me Victor died in Prague.”
“I told you the body matched his dental records.”
“That is not the same sentence.”
Elias looked ashamed. “The records were supplied by a clinic Victor owned.”
Stellan walked to the window.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I had no proof.”
“You had doubt.”
“Yes.”
“And doubt keeps me alive.”
Elias lowered his head.
Dr. Chen returned at sunset.
“I have preliminary results.”
My whole body tightened.
She handed me the page first.
Probability of paternity: 99.9998%.
I read it until the letters blurred.
Stellan did not reach for the paper.
He looked at Fern in my arms.
“She’s mine.”
I hated how broken his voice sounded.
Fern opened her eyes and reached toward him.
I let him take her.
He pressed his forehead to hers.
Then his phone buzzed.
One message.
A photograph loaded on the screen.
Me leaving the NICU with newborn Fern months ago.
Taken from across the street.
Below it, another image.
Stellan outside the gala, masked as Adrian.
Then a third.
Victor Cross, alive, standing beside my mother.
The timestamp was from yesterday.
May you like
Stellan looked at me.
“Your mother is working with him.”
